Journal
FERTILITY AND STERILITY
Volume 95, Issue 6, Pages 1975-1979Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2011.01.173
Keywords
Assisted reproductive technology; ART; differentially methylated regions; DMRs; in vitro fertilization; IVF; twins
Categories
Funding
- National Basic Research Program of China
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province [2007CB948104, 81070532, Z207021, Y2090084]
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Objective: To examine the effect of assisted reproductive technology on the stability of DNA methylation at differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in twins conceived by IVF. Design: Prospective clinical observational study. Setting: IVF center, university-affiliated teaching hospital. Patient(s): Fifty-nine pairs of twins were recruited, including 29 pairs conceived through IVF and 30 pairs of naturally conceived twins. Intervention(s): Collection of umbilical cord blood samples. Main Outcome Measure(s): DNA was extracted from umbilical cord blood. Two maternally methylated regions (KvDMR1 and PEG1) and one paternally methylated region (H19/IGF2 DMR) were analyzed using bisulfite-based technologies. Result(s): Although H19/IGF2 DMR and KvDMR1 showed slightly more variable levels of methylation in IVF cases than in spontaneous cases, methylation indices did not reveal significant differences at three DMRs between IVF-conceived and naturally conceived twins. Conclusion(s): Our results suggest no significant increase in imprint variability at these DMRs, but the greater variance in the IVF twins has a biologically meaningful consequence and may be a topic for future investigation. Large cohorts are needed to systematically assess the potential epigenetic risk in twins conceived with IVF. (Fertil Steril (R) 2011; 95:1975-9. (C) 2011 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.)
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